Hearst Castle,California

Built by William Randolph Hearst ,this is the Neptune Pool at the castle. Built on 240,000 acres, owned by the state of California.Its hard for me to describe the castle. The main bldg is 73,510 square feet. Then theres the three guest houses. The views are all from on top of a hill of the mountains and ocean. The castle is filled with antiques from ancient Egypt, Greece, medieval times, the Rennaissance, and many other eras of history. He also had craftsman recreate sculptures, architecture, decorative painting.
In the 1930s Hearst held parties that were filled with Hollywood celebrities. Gary Cooper, Groucho Marx, Charlie Chaplin, Louella Parsons , and many more.
My in-laws flew in from NY and the four of us went up the West Coast. The little kitty stamps at the upper right corner of the photo are in honor of my MIL, who dearly loves animals, and had some very special cats. I have scrapped a few of them in my gallery.
I really enjoyed working with these colors and materials. Theres layers of clear,gold, copper, and verdigris embossing powders. You can see gold leaf, which i put on with spray adhesive. I dont really recommend the spray, its kind of hard to control and doesnt dry clear.
Wikipedia has a great description of the history!!
I found it fascinating to read about.
Thanks for looking at my page, and i hope you like it.
Do you think i should post a view of this taken in the shade? Seems like the sun looks so good on everyones elses , i thought ide give it a try again. I used to only use ones in the sun . In the shade you can see the details better, theres no glare , or shadows from the parts that stick out.
Theyre hard to see but on the chippie are rhinestones in settings from a necklace my sister gave me.
In the lower right that chain item is one of a pair of earrings i bought after hurricane Rita in 2005. We had to evacuate for it.
After boarding up the house and loading the car with photo albums , the dog , clothes and whatever else we didnt want to lose, we got stuck in traffic on the highway for 14 hrs. We spent the night in the car.
We finally made it to a friends place near Austin and stayed a couple days. We had a great time seeing everyone,there were a few couples there.
When we got home there was no damage , but i think along with a lot of people, i was down about the whole experience. My dh told me to go out and buy myself something, and i got those earrings.
Theres three little round moonstones by the t in "the" part of the title. From my beading phase.

Comments (49)

I can't imagine being stuck on the highway for 14 hours. That makes me want to go put a stash of food in the back of my car~! This layout you created is fabulous! Love what you did making that paper! The misting is awesome too! Ineresting story too!

So sparkilicious and it embraces the feel of the photo of Neptune's Pool so wonderfully! Just love all the paper pleating, and the inclusion of pieces that have special meaning to you. Just so FAB and so a FAV!

Your LO's are always so creative and such works of art - love the colors, the textures and the different techniques, you used in this one - Hearst Castle is definitely a must for anyone driving down the coast of CA - it's an awesome structure, but hard not to remember that he was one of the great "robber barons" of the 19th century who made his fortune by exploiting the poor - liked reading your Hurricane Rita story - something you'll never forget, but you must be so thankful that your home escaped damage ~

Beautiful lo Hearst Castle is amazing!!! Oh yes I remember Rita I didnt evacutate but I had to drive to College Station to an emergency vet at Texas A & M for my little dog Reba that has passed on since..there was not 1 vet not even emergency vets open in the Houston Metro region. Took me only 1 1/2 to get there but 5 hrs to get home..this city was not prepared for that at all. What a mess...

Another big WOW!! The bg you have created is amazing; all of the misting, painting and layers are fabulous! The gold leaf just sparkles, as do the gems! Superb stitching, love the cats, seahorses and the mermaid! The metal dragonfly and bird are real beauties...great photo! Totally a work of art...the photo taken in the sun is perfect!

Woww, I would like to have a look at the castle! Your layout is so so so beautiful! You got it good on the picture with the sun. So I can see all the shiny parts. Love it . I made a layout today, worked so hard on it, and at the time I finished the sun was gone (and the page aswell, was a gift). FAV for your layout, gorgeous!